Lynemouth power station

In 1968, Alcan had applied for planning permission for the construction of a new aluminium smelter in Northumberland at Lynemouth. Later that year, Alcan was granted the permission and site preparation would soon begin. However, to meet the electric demand of the new smelter, a power station would also be needed to be a built. The smelter and power station were constructed in southeast Northumberland to lower high unemployment numbers. The site was chosen because of the nearby Ellington and Lynemouth collieries. Ellington Colliery was sunk in 1909 and Lynemouth Colliery in 1927. In 1968 the two collieries were connected underground by the Bewick Drift, from which coal was brought to the…

The boiler house and turbine hall have a steel frame with aluminium cladding. Other structures include a single 114 m tall chimney of reinforced concrete, and coal delivery and sorting plant. The station's boiler house houses three 380 MWth International Combustion boilers, which were fuelled by pulverised bituminous coal. Each of these provide steam a 140 megawatt (MW) Parsons turbo-alternators, situated in the station's turbine hall. Since the closure of the smelter, all generation goes to the grid. Between 1999 and 2000, the power station was given a turbine upgrade. In 2000, the station's condensers were also refurbished. The condenser refurbishment was carried out by Alstom. These…